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Paul George, Thunder put defensive woes behind them

Oklahoma City's Paul George (13) gets a loose ball during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

Only seconds into the fourth quarter, Paul George snagged the ball from C.J. McCollum and raced to the other end of the court.

Dunk.

Believe it or don't, but George would nearly recreate that moment two more times in the fourth quarter. The details were a bit different — the players who he took the ball from and the result on the other end — but the effect was the same.

George was a destructive force.

So was the entire Thunder defense.

Oklahoma City 123, Portland 114.

Those defensive woes of recent weeks? They seem dead and gone.

On a night when the Thunder faced the Blazers' superb offensive machine, OKC was more than up to the task. Its defensive effort was superb. It was great in halfcourt sets. It was outstanding in the paint. But more than anything, it was at its best at the 3-point line.

“Our effort was really good,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of his team's 3-point defense. “I don't know if you're going to take threes away entirely, but you can impact them. It requires a lot of energy and effort from our guys.

“I thought our attention to detail and our effort to get there was good.”

Was it ever.

Portland went 10 of 36 from behind the 3-point line, shooting 27.8 percent. It was one of the Blazers' worst shooting performances from behind the arc this season. Twice, they shot 27.3 percent, but Tuesday against the Thunder was the only other time that they've been below 28 percent this season.

Credit goes to every guy who wore a Thunder jersey. You don't cause that kind of havoc without a total team effort.

But special achievement awards should be given to Terrance Ferguson, Russell Westbrook and George.

Those three guards were active and engaged and locked in from the jump.

That's no easy thing on the second night of a back-to-back.

And it's made even more difficult because of the way that the Blazers play. They are masters of motion, running off screens and keeping defenders on the move. But the Thunder made the Blazers work for any open shot.

That 3-point defense waned a bit in the third quarter. C.J. McCullom got free of Ferguson a couple times and got going a little bit, but the Thunder was able to keep the Blazers at arms' length with some great 3-point shooting of its own.

The Thunder finished 11 of 23 from behind the arc, but 10 of those came in the first three quarters.

A bunch of points in the fourth quarter came off turnovers. George's steal for a dunk. Westbrook getting to the free-throw line after the Thunder defense forced Blazer big man Meyers Leonard out of bounds. Westbrook getting a steal that led to George free throws. On and on it went, the defense-leading-to-offense.

(Story continued below...)

It was fitting that the exclamation mark came on one more George steal.

He anticipated a pass from Jusuf Nurkic to McCollum, stepping between them, intercepting the ball and racing to the other end for an easy two.

George had 36 points and once again showed why he is still in the MVP conversation, but as good as he was on offense, he was at his best on defense.

The same could be said of everyone with Thunder written across their chest on Tuesday night.

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook goes up for a dunk in front of Portland’s Jake Layman during Tuesday’s game at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder won, 123-114. [Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman] Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates a dunk during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket as Portland's Damian Lillard (0) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Steven Adams (12) goes up for a basket during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) goes up for a dunk during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Terrance Ferguson (23) shoots as Portland's Damian Lillard (0) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) passes the ball to Nerlens Noel as Meyers Leonard (11) and Portland's Jake Layman (10) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) goes up for a basket as Portland's Zach Collins (33) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) goes up for a dunk in front of Portland's Jake Layman (10) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Steven Adams (12) shoots over Portland's Jusuf Nurkic (27) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Dennis Schroder (17) goes up for a lay up during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) goes up for a lay up in front of Portland's Maurice Harkless (4) and Al-Farouq Aminu (8) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates a dunk during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) dives for a loose ball as Portland's Maurice Harkless (4) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Steven Adams (12) and Terrance Ferguson (23) defends against Portland's CJ McCollum (3) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Alex Abrines (8) warms up before the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates a dunk during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) defends against Portland's CJ McCollum (3) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) goes up for a lay up as Portland's Jusuf Nurkic (27) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) gets a loose ball during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) goes up for a basket as Portland's Meyers Leonard (11) defends during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Alex Abrines (8) warms up before the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) shoots over Portland's Damian Lillard (0) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) looks to get by Portland's CJ McCollum (3) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) goes up for a lay up during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Dennis Schroder (17) looks to get by a defender during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Patrick Patterson (54) shoots a 3-point basket over Portland's Seth Curry (31) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Paul George (13) goes up for a dunk after being fouled during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The OklahomanOklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) shoot a free throw during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

Jenni Carlson

Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist at The Oklahoman since 1999, came by her love of sports honestly. She grew up in a sports-loving family in Kansas. Her dad coached baseball and did color commentary on the radio for the high school football...
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